Chelsea Hotel National Register Amendment

The iconic Chelsea Hotel, at 222 West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for its national significance in the areas of architecture and literature. As was typical of the time, the nomination was incredibly brief, highlighting the Chelsea’s “surviv[al] as one of the great late nineteenth century apartment houses in New York” and minimally discussing the outputs of a small selection of the many creatives associated with the hotel since its opening in 1884.

This amendment, undertaken by the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, expands criterion A to add Social History/LGBT as an area of significance. The additional documentation highlights the Chelsea’s role as a hub of creative activity and counterculture where a tolerant atmosphere enabled many prominent LGBT figures to live openly, establish personal and professional networks, and flourish creatively, thus solidifying the hotel’s status as an internationally renowned icon of New York City’s literary, artistic, and musical heritage.